Conveyer



' J. W. GREER CONVEYER Filed Nov. 10, 1924 2 Sheets-Shet 1 ATTORNEY Aug.7, 1928.

J. W. GREER CONVEYER Filed Nov. 10, 1924 2 Sheets$he et 2,

ATTORNEY UNITED STATE n 1,679,717 PATENT OFFICE.

.ms'snw. GREEK. or omnmnenmsssnciiusnr'rs.

Application filed November This invention relates to a conveyer in theform of a metal belt for carrying articles thru a heated oven, and tothe construction by which articles of food in their uncooked conditionmay be deposited directl upon the metal conveyer and carried there ythru an oven so that they will be cooked while passing thru the oven.

Various forms of traveling carriers and conveyers' have been proposedheretofore, but the well" known types of conveyers will not meet therequirements of' the present case, due to the injurious effect of theheat of an oven upon the mechanism of a traveling carrier, and duealsoto the nature of the supporting surface required to receive the articlesof food ttrjbe baked; 7

Heretofore cakes, crackers, biscuits and otherarticles of'food have beenplaced in I belt.

pans for baking. In accordance with the present invention the use ofthese pans is no longer necessary, and an important feature of thepresent invention resides in an endless sheet metal belt having a smoothsurface upon which the cakes, crackers, biscuits or other articles offood, in their uncooked condition, may be directly placed and conveyedthereby *thru the baking oven. The

conveyer should travel at such a speed that the articles of foodthereupon will be sufliciently bakedduring their passage thru the oven.Another feature 0 .-the invention therefore resides in means forsupporting the sheetmetal belt and for driving it at various differentspeeds, dependin upon the length of time the articles upon t e-belt areto remain in the oven.

Other features of the invention reside in means for brushing from thebelt the crumbs which may adhere thereto after the articles of food havebeen removed; in means for greasing the food receiving surface of thebelt; in a cooling chamber thru which the articles of food pass uponleaving the oven; and in The various features of the invention and novelcombination of parts will be best understood from the followingdescription when read in connection with the accompanying drawingsillustrating one good practical form of the invention.

'. In the drawings 1 V rFig. 1 is a side elevation of theconveyer of thepresent invention shown supported 50 that its upper run will pass thruan oven.

packing tables disposed along the coNvnYEn.

Fig. 2 is a continuation of Fig. 1 and; shows the upper run of theconveyer p ssing thru a cooling chamber and extending along a packingtable."

Fig. 3 is a sectional .view taken on line 3--3 of Fig. 2; and.

' Fi 4 is apersp'e'ctive view of the sheet meta belt of the presentinvention and the supporting drums around which it passes.

The metal. conve er belt of the present invention is well adapted toconvey various articles thru'an oven, but it is designed moreparticularly for. use by. manufacturers of biscuits, cakes, crackers andother articles of food. And in accordance with the present invention,theuncooked biscuits or the like may be deposited directly upon. the smoothsurface of the sheet metal belt at one side of the oven to be conveyedslowl thethru the oven by the belt so thatthey wi l be suflicientlybaked upon leaving the oven.

They may then be carried by the belt thrua" cooling chamber, and uponleaving this lrihamber they are ready to be packed in oxes.

In the drawing, 10 is an oven of any suit-c pass. The size of' theopenings 12 may be varied by adjusting the sliding doors 14. 1

The entire belt 18 may be formed of a long strip of thin sheet metalthat passes around the spaced drums 15 and 16, and the upper and lowerruns of the belt are supported. at various points between the drums 15and '16. The entire belt conveyer may be many feet in length so that theuncooked biscuits, or the like, may be placed upon the upper run of thebelt near one drum 15,and be baked and cooled ready for packing in boxesas they approach the other drum 16. s

The conveyer is provided with a supporting frame, conveniently formed ofupper rails 17 extending a short distance from the left-hand side of theoven 10, and which are held'in their elevated position by the uprights18, and the frame is provided with lower rails 19 which may extendunder-the furnace, as shown. The long conveyer sup- The upper of thebelt 13 travels thru the furnace in the direction indicated by thearrows, and at the left-hand side of the oven is shown a hopper ordepositor 22 which isbconstructed to place the uncooked biscuits, smallcakes, or the like, upon the traveling belt so that they will beconveyed thru the oven 10, and the conveyor is operated by means to bedescribed at such speed that the biscuits or the'like will besufficientlybaked by the time they pass out of the oven at theright-hand end thereof. ,The

' belt with the hot biscuits or the like thereupon then passes into thecooling chamber 23, thru which, if desired, a current of air may bepassed to cool the articles of food on the belt 13. As the biscuits orthe like leave'the cooling chamber 23', they are sufficiently cool to bepacked in boxes, and packing tables-24 are-therefore provided upon oneor both sides of the traveling belt and extend from the right-handend ofthe cooling chamber to a position near the drum 16. As the upper run ofthe belt passes along the tables 24 the biscuits, cakes, or the like'maybe removed from the belt by girls the end uprights 21, and the drum 15at the left-hand end of the su porting frame 1s rotatably supported by t'e uprights 18. It may be desirable to vary the tension of the endlessbelt 13, and to this'end, in the construction shown, the supportingshaftrof the drum 15 is rotatably mounted in blocks 25, whlch areslidablv mounted in the guideways 26, and the blocks 25 may be moved toor from the belt tightening position by the operatin screws 27. Itis'necessary to sup- I port hot the upper and lowerrun of the elt atvar1ous points, and in the construction shown this-is accomplished byrollers 28 positioned along the upper and lower runs of the belt.

Yarious means may be provided for driving the conveyer belt of thepresent invention, and since the belt is relatively long,

the same should be driven at a plurality of points, and in theconstruction shown s rocket chains are employed to 'drive the rum 16 andalso the supporting rolls 28. It may be desirable'to drive the belt 13at difierent speeds to vary the. length of time required to conveyarticles 'upon the belt through the oven 10. Any suitable variable speeddrive may be employed to this end,

and in the construction shown an electric motor 29 is mounted below thecooling chamaevaviv ber 23, and this motor, by means of a belt.

30, drives a pulley 31 of the speed varying device '32, and a drivingpinion 33 of the speed varying device meshes with and drives a largegear at rigidly secured to a transversely extending shaft 35.

sprocket chain 37- passes about the sprocket. 36 and about I thesprocket 38 rigidly se cured to the drum 16, so that the chain'37 isdriven by the sprocket-36 and drives the drum 16. The sprocket chain 37serves also to rotate a number of supporting rollers 28, and to this endthe rollers are provided with small sprockets 39 which} are engaged andThe shaft 35. is provided with asprocket 36, and adriven by the chain37. It may be desirable to drive the supporting rolls 28 which aredisposed at the left hand side of the driv-.

ing shaft 35, and to this end a second sprocket 40 is secured to theshaft 35 and this sprocket drives a chain 41, the lower run of whichpasses below the oven to rot-ate the rollers which support the lower,

run of the belt 13. This chain then passes upwardly around the sprocket42 to the sprocket of an'upper. roller 28, whereupon the upper run ofthe chain 41 passes through the oven to rotate theisupporting rollstherein and returns to the driving sprocket 40. By, providing the two;driving chains just described, one of which extends in a right handdirection from the driving shaft 35, and the other extends in aleft-hand'direction from this shaft, as many'of-the supporting rolls 28as; desired may be positively driven by these chains, so-that thesupporting rolls will help drive the endless belt 13 as well as supportthe same.

After the biscuits, cakes,- or the like, have i i been removed from theupper run of the belt 13, crumbs and other small particles may stick tothe belt. It is desirable to clean the belt before uncooked biscuits orthe like are a again deposited upon this belt, and to this end in theconstruction shown a rotating brush 43 is provided which maybe mountedbelow the lower run of the belt, as shown in Fig. 1, to brush the lowersurface of the same and thisbelt may be driven by an electric motor 44having a driving belt 45. In many cases it will be desirable to greaseor oil the biscuit receiving surface of the endless belt, and this isaccomplished in the present case by a brush 46 rotatably mounted belowthe drum 15. Oil or grease 1s supplied to this brush by the rece tacle47 and the brush 46 may be driven min the sprocket 42 by a chain 48. I

From the foregoing it will be seen that the baking operation may becarried on continuously, and that the biscuits, cakes, or the like, whenplaced upon the traveling belt 13 by the hopper 22, are passed thru theoven 10 which bakes them, after'which they are passed thru the, coolingchamber 23,

which cools them ready for packing, and as they are conve ed along thetables 24, they are removed rom the belt and placed in power shaftpositioned between the upper and lower runs of the belt intermediate theends of a belt run, and drivingchains ex-' tending in oppositedirections from said shaft lengthwise of the upper run of the belt andoperable by the shaft to drive said rollers from a single source ofpower disposedintermediate the ends of a belt run.

2. In a machine of the class described, in

combination, a long sheet metal belt for conveying articles of foodsuccessively through a baking and cooling chamber and having an upperand a lower run, an oven and a cooling chamber arranged along the upperrun of the belt, rollers disposed at intervals along the upper run ofthe belt to support and drive the same as it passes through the oven andcooling chamber, a power shaft positioned between the upper and lowerruns the belt to extend transversely thereofinter: mediate the" ends ofa belt run, endless driv ing chain extendin in o posite directions fromsai run'extendmg outsi e of the oven, and the chains being operated bysaid shaft to drive said rollers from a single source of power disposedintermediate the ends of a beltrun.

3. In a machine of the class described, in combination, a long sheetmetal belt for con shaft an one aving an upper run exten g throu h theoven and a lower,

veying articles oi. food successivel through a baking and coolingchamber and avingan upper and a lower run, an oven and a]cool-' ingchamber arranged along the upper-run of the belt, rollers disposed atintervals along the upper run of the belt to support and drive the sameas it passes through the oven'and cooling chamber,-belt su porting drumsat the opposite ends of the belt run,

I a power shaft positioned between the upper and lower runs of the beltto extend transversely thereof intermediate the ends of a belt run, andendless drivin chains extend-- ing in opposite directions rom said shaftlengthwise of the upper run of the belt and operable to positively driveone of the drums and the rollers from a single source of power disposedintermediate the ends of a v belt run.

a In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

JESSE W.- GBEER.

